


Marvel Vampires - Bloodrise

by Brawl2099



Category: Marvel (Comics)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 20:09:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16646930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brawl2099/pseuds/Brawl2099
Summary: Enter a Marvel universe unlike any you've seen before, one ruled by... VAMPIRES!





	Marvel Vampires - Bloodrise

Eight years later…

    Kyle Richmond tuned the small ham radio in to the same station he did every day at twilight. The remaining twenty-three hours, forty-five minutes, the radio was set to randomly circulate through all the frequencies available, hoping to catch transmissions from other, unknown clusters of humanity.

    Tonight however, Kyle knew it was different. Unless something changed, and quickly, this was the last night the radio would receive a transmission of any sort.

    Tonight would be the night that Kyle and his little colony would die.

    “Good evening,” started the rich voice they’d all become accustomed to. “This is Tony Stark, voice of the Human Avenger Alliance. I certainly hope that my voice finds each of us well.” Tony sighed. “The war in Wakanda continues on. The Panthers have fought valiantly, and have won another bat-”

    “Kyle,” a voice said from the door. He looked up at the young woman and sighed.

    “They’re here,” he said.

    “Yeah,” she said. “I don’t know how-“

    “The older ones can come out earlier,” he said. “Hierarchy doesn’t hurt. One of the queens may even provide a little cloud cover. Take your pick.” He stood, put his shoulders back, and grabbed the two weapons he carried since he’d founded the settlement- a short sword forged of silver and a handgun. They weren’t symbols of status. They were true implements of death, not that it would matter tonight. Tonight, they’d send sheer numbers, enough to overwhelm them quickly.

    He walked out onto Main Street. The sun was just setting, but the clouds covering it made it difficult to tell. Only Kyle’s supernatural connection to the night, a connection that served him well as Nighthawk, told him it was still late evening and not early dusk. They knew that also. They knew he wouldn’t have that darkness-aided strength and speed that might have saved him.

    He walked towards the edge of town, confident and assured. He glanced at the young woman, Rachael, and smiled. She seemed to relax. Good. She needed it.

    “How far is the generator from working?” he asked.

    “Two hours,” Rachel said.

    “Tell them to keep working,” he said. “No matter what happens. Keep working.” He waved her away. This was a battle he had to begin alone. He found the man waiting at the edge of town. He wasn’t surprised at the person they sent.

    “Jim,” he said. “Been a long time.”

    “Since the fall of the Sanctum,” Jim Rhodes said.

    “Looks like the armor fell apart.”

    Rhodes smiled and lifted his gauntlets, the only still-functioning portion of the War Machine armor. “Looks like. I’ll have to thank Tony for that next time I see him.”

    “How many are out there Jim?”

    “Three of us,” he said. “And forty-seven of our support.”

    “Thralls,” Kyle said. “Just use the damn word. They can’t support you if they have no free will.”

    “You always had too much of a mouth for your own good,” Rhodes said.

    “And your mouth is any better?”

    Rhodes smiled, baring his teeth, particularly the elongated incisors that had replaced his natural teeth. “The queens just want you dead, y’know? They don’t even want to turn you. Trust me, I tried to convince them. Your powers would increase a thousand fold. I guess that’s why you should never trust one of us.”

    “I’d rather die fighting than spend eternity as one of you bloodsuckers,” he said, drawing his sword and leveling it at Rhodes’ throat. “I may not be at full strength, but the sun is going down. I feel strong enough to take you.”

    “Oh, and you are. But not all three of us.”

    Suddenly, Kyle was surrounded. He took a deep breath and drew his gun. He would take one of these sons of bitches with him.

    “Even if your ‘engineer’ gets your generator running in the next five minutes, this will be worth it,” Rhodes said. “I’ve been looking forward to draining you for a long time Kyle.”

    “Come and get it,” he spat, “vampire.”

    The three vampires rushed Kyle Richmond at once.

MARVEL VAMPIRES: BLOODRISE

BY TONY THORNLEY

    Rhodes was impressed. Richmond actually held them off for nearly five minutes. He may have even mortally wounded Anders, if the silver poisoning was bad enough.

    He walked into the small communications room. He needed a moment to savor the taste of Richmond’s blood on his lips, away from the screams of the people that Nighthawk had failed to protect. He licked his right gauntlet clean, but paused when he heard the voice. He sneered.

    “Brothers and sisters of humanity,” he said. “We will persevere. We will win this war. We possess the most powerful weapon in it- hope. Hope that we will live to see another sunrise, and hope that we will survive another day beyond that. Do not lose that hope. It will help you see it through.

    “You’re as corny as the Midwest, Ton,” he said. He licked his gauntlet again. “I can’t wait to rip your booze-soaked head off that body.” 

    “This is Tony Stark, voice of the Human Avenger Alliance, signing off again. Good night. We’ll see you in the morning.”

=VV=

2 miles west of Bangor, Maine

    Scott Summers turned off his radio and sighed. His hand instinctively rose to the small twin scars on his neck. They would never fade away, and honestly, he’d prefer they didn’t. He needed a reminder every night. He left his tent to find the X-Men already on the move.

    “Hey boss,” Julian Keller said as he saw Scott. The young man was barely ten when the war went public six years before. Now he was a battle-hardened veteran X-Man at only sixteen. The vampires were all he knew.

    “Hellion, have we heard from any of the others?” he said.

    “Cannonball’s squad is in Boston,” he said. “Sam said they may have a bead on both Madrox and Pietro. They’re following up on it.”

    “Shit,” he said. “Both of them in one place. Have Network warn them to be damn careful. We don’t want another Dallas.” Julian nodded somberly. Dallas was before his time, but he knew the story. There was a reason why everyone spoke about that day in only whispers. Everyone except Scott.

    A sudden hush filled the X-Men’s camp. Scott spun to see the cause and his eyes narrowed as he saw him. Alex stepped alongside him as the X-Men’s leaders walked forward to greet their guests, the leaders of the other X-Men.

    Bishop smiled as he saw Scott, making sure to display his blood-darkened fangs, while Nightcrawler hung back in the shadows. They had killed one of their sentries. Scott muttered a curse.

    “Such language,” Bishop said with mock indignation. “Is that appropriate for a leader of men?”

    “When did you start talking like a pompous asshole?” Alex growled.

    “The moment I became your better,” he said. Scott looked into the air, then back at Bishop.

    “Tell Warren to land or I’ll shoot him down,” he said. He raised his hand to his visor and opened it just enough to allow reddish light to escape. Bishop scowled, but moments later Warren Worthington landed next to him. Warren’s feathered wings were long gone, replaced by leathery, bat-like wings. His complexion was ashen, and his eyes sunken. The X-Men behind Scott all recoiled at the sight of their former ally.

    “What do you want?” commanded a new voice. Scott glanced over his shoulder long enough to see Magneto striding forward. He smirked. Erik had laced his clothing with silver and vibranium after the first vampire attack, and had also applied vibranium tattoos to much of his body after learning of the metal’s toxicity to the undead. The master of magnetism was vampire proof.

    Bishop and Warren actually both took a step back as Magneto walked forward. His presence had always been intimidating, but now he was even more so to the vampires. The vibranium had a greater effect than making him toxic. It had restored his vitality. The wrinkles had virtually vanished, the old limps had dissolved. He was the younger man that had been able to raise armies again.

    “We are sick of our feud,” Bishop hissed. “As are the queens. We have come to offer a truce.”

    “Bullshit,” Alex said. “You’ve come to try to turn our people.”

    “You are so short sighted Havok!” Warren hissed. “What we offer is power! Pure, unbridled power!”

    “And for those of us you can’t turn?” Scott asked. Warren and Bishop both looked at the scar on his neck.

    “You will be made… comfortable,” Bishop said. Scott’s eyes narrowed. The solar energy that powered his optic blasts had saved his life. He and Alex were both walking solar batteries, and that apparently meant vampires were allergic to them as well.

    “None of our people want your perversion of life,” Magneto said. His eyes began to glow and silver stakes all around the camp started to shake. The X-Men began to gather behind their leaders, staring defiantly at the vampires.

    “Go now,” Scott said. “The only reason you’re still undead is out of the memory of who you were in life.” Nightcrawler hissed from the shadows and teleported away. Warren’s eyes narrowed.

    “You will regret this Summers,” he said.

    “Doubt it,” Scott growled. “Tell my wife hello for me.” Bishop dissolved into mist and Warren rocketed into the sky. Magneto scowled as he released his hold on the silver all around him.

    “A pity,” he said. “I looked forward to this confrontation.”

=VV=

Denver, Colorado

    Benjamin Reilly Parker sat back in his chair as Stark’s broadcast deteriorated into static. He rubbed his eyes and checked the clock. Nightfall was still an hour away. He had been awake for a full twenty-four hours now, with no sign of stopping. The UV lamps in sector 8B were still out. Sandman was in the area, ready for anything that tried to make it through, but no matter how powerful Marko was, they still needed to fix the lamps.

    “Hey there Tiger,” a familiar voice said from the doorway. “Enjoying the white noise?” A pair of soft arms wrapped around his neck as Mary Jane Parker kissed the top of his head.

    “Hey there,” he whispered. He turned and kissed his wife softly on the lips. “Benjy and Mayday down for the night?”

    “Sleeping like logs,” she said. “You heard from Max?”

    “Harry is on his way out to the lamps right now with the supplies he needs,” he said. “We’re praying he can have it done by nightfall.”

    “Isn’t Flint with him?”

    “Yeah, but would YOU want to do repairs in the middle of a pitched battle?” he asked. MJ grinned and shook her head.

    “Guess not,” she said. “Are you…?”

    “I don’t know yet,” he said. “I’ve spoken to Fisk… I don’t know if he’s going to cooperate.”

    “You need to move those supplies to Colorado Springs tonight,” she said. “People are suffering.”

    “I know,” he said. “I definitely know that. Wilson’s on a power trip though. I might have to…” He sighed. “…pay him a visit with Doctor Connors. To convince him.” He practically spat the last words out.

    “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” MJ said with little conviction.

    “I know.” Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

    “Hey Tiger,” she said. “Don’t beat yourself up over this. You are a hero to these people. You have saved countless lives.”

    “Yeah, I know,” he said. “But how much of a hero can you be when you slowly see yourself becoming a villain?”

=VV=

18 Miles outside of Missoula, Montana

    Harry Osborn worked as quickly as his half-numb hands allowed. The wind was biting into his knuckles, and he knew a few more minutes and he’d lose control completely. The Sandman paced nearby, his fists shifting form with each step.

    “Har, we’ve got fifteen minutes to sundown,” he said. “Hurry up!”

    “You think I don’t know that?” he said. “I am hurrying as fast as I can.” A sudden growl caught his attention. Both men turned and saw the creature pacing in the shade of several evergreens. Several VERY close evergreens.

    “They’re here,” Flint muttered. “Dammit, they’re already here.”

    “Son of a bitch,” Harry muttered. He rubbed his hands together quickly, trying to maintain circulation in his fingers, then looked at the assembly in front of him. The bulb was fixed, but the wiring was still screwed up. He quickly ran the wiring diagram through his head. Sandman looked at him and saw the wheels turning.

    “How long do you need Goblin?” he asked.

    “F-five to eight minutes,” Harry said. Several other growls echoed in their ears. They both looked into the trees for a beat before Flint responded.

    “You have five,” he said.

    One of the more daring vampires ventured forward, sniffing the air. Harry realized that she smelled his Goblin-serum enhanced blood through the cracks forming on his knuckles. It probably smelled sweet to them. Like dessert. He picked up his speed, hoping it wouldn’t come down to a fight.

    The Sandman felt differently. He was ready for a fight.

    The man once known as William Baker ran forward, his limbs shifting into a large hammer and a spiked mace. His body shifted form slightly, expanding and losing his more human appearance. Now he simply looked like a walking sandstorm.

    He slammed into the first vampire with the spiked mace, impaling her. He slammed her into a tree before she exploded into a hot burst of flame. He spun and simply crushed another into the ground, bursting it in a spray of blood and ichor. Several jumped on his back and began clawing, trying to wound their prey.

    Flint let his body begin to flow over the vampires, increasing the speed and intensity of his defense until he was a virtual sandstorm. The sand tore the quartet of bloodsuckers apart, leaving only bones in seconds.

    He stopped spinning and solidified in his human form before he pounded another vampire into a pulp. He threw yet another against a tree, and it exploded with a burst of flame. Several started to rush him all at once, but an incredibly bright light suddenly flooded the area with UV light. Two vampires instantly burst into flames. Flint grinned as he heard the vamps start to retreat.

    “Hell yeah Gobby,” he said. “Good work. How about I buy you a beer?”

=VV=

San Francisco, California

    “Short but inspiring tonight boss,” Abe Jenkins said. He stared at himself in the mirror, running his fingers along the subtle pattern of circuitry under his skin.

    “Thanks Abe,” Tony Stark said, the audio piped through the speakers of the helmet sitting in front of Abe. “I’m getting less and less to talk about by the day. It just seems to get more and more bleak.”

    “I know it,” he said. “At least Iron Man is getting some work done.”

    “Thank you again,” Tony said. “What you’re doing… you’re saving lives, no matter how indirectly it might seem.”

    “I’m seeing action every night boss-man,” he said. “I don’t care how indirect it might be. It’s like vampire hunting is in my blood.”

    “Good,” he said. “I wish I could be there, but-“

    “Tony, you’re living in that satellite for a reason,” he said. “Your mind is way too important. If these monsters were able to turn or enthrall you, the human race wouldn’t stand a chance. You’d be turning out iron coffins for them.” Stark began laughing, picturing the armed coffins flying through the air.

    “How’s Pepper doing?” Tony asked.

    “Good. She’s actually on her way to Seattle with a few hundred pounds of scavenged food. Any luck, she’ll be there well before nightfall.”

    “Fantastic,” he said. “So I have our new target. I tracked down an old buddy of yours. He hasn’t been turned, but his old partner has. He’s willingly working for them.”

    “Sounds like Fixer,” he said.

    “Give the boy a prize!” Stark exclaimed. Abe chuckled.

    “I’ll suit up. You uploading everything I need?”

    “The data dump will be complete by the time you have the helmet on. Good luck angels.”

    “That’d be funny if there was more than one of me.”

=VV=

    Iron Man rocketed over the Sierra Nevadas, and slowly veered right, directing his flight southward. Abe’s armor was a completely new iteration of Iron Man. Similar to the “Silver Centurion” armor, but less bulky, silver had replaced the typical gold accents of the design. A thick line of silver run up the armor, through the arc reactor and uni-beam in the chest.

    There were several modifications to the armor to make it as vampire un-friendly as possible. The first was that the silver actually was silver, not stainless steel or chrome. One touch, and a vamp would have a rash that would make their un-life unpleasant. Hidden UV lamps were built into the shoulders, ready to deploy at his mental command. Two wrist mounted guns fired miniature silver stakes, enough to overpower a small coven of vamps.

    The vampires were afraid of Abe. They needed to be.

    “You are approximately thirty-seven miles from your destination, Mister Jenkins,” said JARVIS. Tony had installed the AI in the last update of the armor. The voice of Stark’s late butler was unbelievably comforting.

    “ETA JARVIS?” he asked.

    “Fourteen point seven minutes,” it said. “Las Vegas should be visible at any moment.”

    “Give me GPS on my HUD,” he said. “Full radio access also.”

    “Routing now…” A few moments later a map was superimposed on the landscape. A blinking red light revealed the location of his target. The light grew larger as he grew closer to the city. He let JARVIS do the flying until he was about a mile from the city limits.

    Vegas was the only city on the planet where humans and vampires lived in peace. It was the nature of the city. The darkness, the sin, it fed the vamps as much as blood did. Although the drug trade got a spike from the vampire activity (apparently there was nothing quite like blood laced with heroin), the sex trade was booming, with prostitutes of both species selling themselves to anyone willing to pay. As an extension, Vegas was the only city where economic structure hadn’t fallen apart.

    He rocketed low and fast over Vegas, skimming heads as he went past. He wanted them to know that Iron Man was in town. Intimidation was ninety percent of being alpha dog.

    Abe crashed through the roof of an abandoned store front, creating a man-sized hole all the way to the basement. Six vampires turned and hissed at him. All of them were female, and very attractive. He scowled beneath his mask.

    “You’ve got to be kidding me ‘Bert,” he muttered. “You’ve got your own harem?”

    “Abe, Abe, Abe,” said a croaking voice behind the vampires. “The harem is the way to go. I guess one perk of being undead is that you’re always horny.” The six women parted to reveal the Fixer sitting in a wheelchair behind them. Norbert Ebersol had grown frail, his body somehow aged to around eighty.

    “Oh my hell, what’s happened to you?”

    “This is what happens when you’re fed on without being turned,” he said. “I guess the vamp blood is what you need for eternal youth. I don’t mind. The sex is great. So’s the health insurance.” Abe raised his arms, aiming his gauntlets at the vampires. They began to hiss.

    “Sorry Norbie,” he said. “But you know why I’m here.”

    “Stark doesn’t want anyone creating Iron Man armor for the vampires,” he said. “Tony Stark’s own little armor war.”

    “Yeah,” Abe said. “I’m sorry buddy.”

    He opened fire.

=VV=

Salem Center, New York

    Ororo Munroe turned off the radio and turned to the other two queens. Jean Grey and Betsy Braddock lounged on silk couches, surrounded by thralls.

    “Don’t be troubled sister,” Jean said. “Stark has less to report by the day. We have already won this war.”

    “And yet we still suffer losses,” Ororo said. “We are the rulers of this planet. We sh56[ould not be losing at the rate we are!”

    “Minor setbacks,” Betsy sighed. “The moment we defeat your boyfriend in Wakanda, the world is ours. The Avengers will fall. The X-Men will be slaughtered. The Six will be turned.”

    “Yes,” Ororo sighed. “I suppose so.”

    “All that remains is that we wait until we win…”

 


End file.
